Thank you for the courage represented in your willingness to engage this material. After a trauma any act of recovery, which involves memory, can be very frightening. While you may not feel courageous, it is important to remember – courage is not the absence of fear, but facing your fears wisely. This material is designed to help you do that.

 

“Often it is necessary… to reframe accepting help as an act of courage. Acknowledging the reality of one's condition and taking steps to change it become signs of strength, not weakness; initiative, not passivity. Taking action to foster recovery, far from granting victory to the abuser, empowers the survivor (p. 159).” Judith Hermann in Trauma and Recovery

 

For the moment, we will simply define trauma as an event that is more than we are prepared to handle at the time we experience it; resulting in prolonged emotional, relational, and spiritual disruption. This event might be exposure to war conditions, abuse, natural disasters, or comparable events. In the next chapter we will provide a more robust definition of trauma based on the symptoms it produces.

 

Take your time going through this material and take as many breaks as necessary. You were not in control during your experience of trauma. You are in control during the recovery process. Here are several suggestions for how to use this material.

 

• Read only in small bits and stop when you have had enough. This allows you to reinforce the idea that you have voice and control in the process of recovery.
• Write down your thoughts as you read. This allows you to relax and not mentally rehearse insights you gain from the study.
• Do not read at night. Do all that you can to protect your sleep patterns while going through this study.

Where Are We Going?

 

One goal of this study will be to minimize surprises. You have had enough experiences that were unpredictable; the unknown understandably feels unsafe. The nine steps of this material can be thought of as representing three stages of recovery.

 

“Recovery unfolds in three stages. The central task of the first stage is the establishment of safety. The central task of the second stage is remembrance and mourning. The central task of the third stage is reconnection with ordinary life. Like any abstract concept, the stages of recovery are a convenient fiction, not to be taken too literally. They are an attempt to impose simplicity and order on a process that is inherently turbulent and complex (p. 155).” Judith Hermann in Trauma and Recovery

 

Stage One: Establish Safety (Steps 1-3)

1.    PREPARE yourself physically, emotionally, and spiritually to face your suffering. In this step, we want you to understand the journey of facing your suffering and place yourself in the best position to complete the journey well.

2.    ACKNOWLEDGE the specific history and realness of my suffering. In this step, we want you to learn to feel safe while remembering the events you experienced.

3.    UNDERSTAND the impact of my suffering. In this step, we want you to grasp (a) why past trauma can have so many present effects, and (b) the factors that contribute to the impact of the specific trauma you experienced.

Stage Two: Disempower the Memory (Steps 4-6)

4.    LEARN MY SUFFERING STORY which I use to make sense of my experience. In this step, we want you to identify the false, destructive messages you attached to your trauma that give it greater impact in your life.

5.    MOURN the wrongness of what happened and receive God’s comfort. In this step, we want you to grieve the wrongness of your trauma in a way that emotionally distances you from the destructive messages of step four.

6.    LEARN MY GOSPEL STORY by which God gives meaning to my experience. In this step, we want you to experience God’s presence and care even when you remember the harshness of your trauma.

Stage Three: Re-Connect with Life and Relationships (Steps 7-9)

7.    IDENTIFY GOALS that allow me to combat the impact of my suffering. In this step, we want you to select strategies that will reclaim areas of life that have been dominated by or neglected because of your trauma.

8.    PERSEVERE in the new life and identity to which God has called me. In this step, we want you to identify those life practices that are most essential for you sustaining the growth that will have been established at this point.

 

9.    STEWARD all of my life for God’s glory. In this step, we want to ensure you realize that God wants to see you flourish as you fulfill all the purposes for which he created you.

 

“But life is not this neat…?!?” You are right. Memories come before we can establish a sense of safety. We must engage life and relationships before we are able to disempower memories. This was already happening before you had a plan. This outline should help you better understand why things are harder than they should be until you get to that point in your journey.

 

“I don’t think I can do all of this!?!” Don’t get overwhelmed. Just because you’ve seen the map doesn’t mean you need to take the whole journey. The map is meant to reduce surprises; not create pressure. Right now you are still preparing for the journey.

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